The Last Dragon Shifter

Chapter Forty-Nine

With that goal in mind, Naomi left the grand hall and hustled back to her room. Once she had the door firmly locked behind her, Naomi dug through the contents of the box.

What really caught her eye was the book she had spotted earlier. On closer inspection, it wasn't just any type of book. It was a diary. Naomi studied the gold lock on the cover, noticing its similarity to the lock on the elfin box from the third trial.

Were they the same kinds of locks? Could it be bloodline magic?

Her mind flashed back to the third trial as she recalled what Malcolm's hand movements had been. Maybe it was different since this was magic from a different species or bloodline, but she decided to give it a shot. She pricked her finger, and mimicking what she'd seen Malcolm do, she pressed her bleeding finger to the lock.

It sprung free.

Feverishly, Naomi opened up the book and searched through its pages. 

One of the early entries read:

"Junior year has been particularly taxing. The work keeps stacking up, and there's more pressure to decide what career path I want to take. But right now, none of that matters to me. Not Mom and Dad's constant nagging, not all the exams in the world.

Why?

Because I'm in love.

In love with Darius.

I've never felt better. More alive. So amazing

I know we are only in high school, but I feel it. I feel it in my heart that we could truly be together for the rest of our lives."

Naomi's own heart went out to her grandmother. She'd been happy, sure. Knowing how things would turn out, Naomi read the next few entries with unease. Reading about Juliette's problems with her mother, Alexia, but also Juliette and Darius's developing romance. How it progressed until...

"I've checked and checked again with several tests, but the answer remains the same.

I'm pregnant.

It's not ideal, not the right time, but I figured if Darius loves me, we'll find a way to make this work.

It turns out that was incredibly naive of me. I told him, and he screamed at me. Blamed me and told me he wanted nothing to do with me or the baby. My heart is utterly broken and I feel alone. In a moment of weakness, I confided to Adriana. She's furious with me too, but at least she promised to stand by me and my decision.

But what should that decision be?

Should I keep it...her...him?

I fear I can't, because if Mother finds out...WHEN Mother finds out...she's going to kill me. She's cautioned me against something like this happening my whole life. She insists there are too many risks. Not just the typical issues that come with having a baby, but the other thing as well. Because no one can know. My whole life, my mother has warned me about people finding out.

No one can know my mother is Tragon's long-lost daughter. That through my veins runs the blood of the most hated man throughout Tyrra. He may be dead, but the hatred toward him remains. If anyone found out my mom and I were related to him, it would surely end badly.

It gets worse.

Since my mother ran away from home and took on a new identity, she's had to hide her powers and the fact that she's a dragon shifter. She told me, she never meant to get pregnant but she thanks the gods above that I was born a griffon shifter, like Dad.

But now I find myself in the same predicament. While most children take on the traits of their parents, there is always a chance that my dragon shifter bloodline will be stronger. What if my underlying genes pass down to my child?

What if my child is born a dragon shifter?

What if this curse of being Tragon's descendant goes on through my family forever?"

Naomi stared down at that last line, reading it over and over. Still trying to process that she could be...was...

Her grandmother had been right. From her, all the way down to Naomi, the blood of Tragon had left its mark on their family. He was Naomi's ancestor, and ultimately the reason why she was the single one of their kind left.

Such cruel, disturbing irony shouldn't be allowed to exist.

Naomi glanced down at the book one last time, and her heart stopped all over again at reading her grandmother's final lines.

"Truly, there's only one good thing Tragon left behind, the book of poems my mom still keeps. While I fear for the future, I can still think of the few good words he left us with:

Count to ten and breathe it away, for Dija heals all things."

Naomi dropped the book in shock. To think, the same childhood comfort those words had brought her from her mother had actually come from Tragon. That his book of poems, incantations, whatever, might still be around, and maybe even embedded in her subconscious. 

Naomi sat uneasily on her bed, needing time to wrap her head around these startling discoveries. She may have finally gotten some answers, but she couldn't share them with Lark as she had intended to. No matter how much she cared for Lark, this information was dangerous. It wasn't safe to share it with anyone else. Not even her own father.

No. This was a secret that would weigh on her, just like it did her mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She would have to find a way to keep it close to her chest, without letting it drive her crazy. Without it taking over her life. A life that was now befuddled with not only this secret but the issue of The Elitists and protecting Malcolm.

With such drastic changes happening in her life over a few, short months, Naomi's gut clenched at all the ways everything could go wrong.

What if she couldn't protect Malcolm and defeat the cult that was after him?

What if she succumbed to her ancestor's past, giving in to the dark forces of tribute magic?

What if...

Naomi laid back on her bed, her head spinning as she went over these possibilities. Wondering what the hell she should do next. 

*** Ta-da! We've finally got some background on Naomi's family history. What are your thoughts on her connection to Tragon? 😱